NIDA InfoFacts: Drug Addiction Treatment Methods

National Insititue on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Types of Drug Addiction Treatment


A variety of scientifically based approaches to drug addiction treatment exist. Drug addiction treatment can include behavioral therapy (such as counseling, cognitive therapy, or psychotherapy), medications, or their combination.

In maintenance treatment for heroin addicts, people in treatment are given an oral dose of a synthetic opiate, usually methadone hydrochloride or levo-alpha-acetyl methadol (LAAM), administered at a dosage sufficient to block the effects of heroin and yield a stable, noneuphoric state free from physiological craving for opiates. In this stable state, the patient is able to disengage from drug-seeking and related criminal behavior and, with appropriate counseling and social services, become a productive member of his or her community.

Outpatient drug-free treatment does not include medications and encompasses a wide variety of programs for patients who visit a clinic at regular intervals. Most of the programs involve individual or group counseling. Patients entering these programs are abusers of drugs other than opiates or are opiate abusers for whom maintenance therapy is not recommended, such as those who have stable, well-integrated lives and only brief histories of drug dependence.

Therapeutic communities (TCs) are highly structured programs in which patients stay at a residence, typically for 6 to 12 months. Patients in TCs include those with relatively long histories of drug dependence, involvement in serious criminal activities, and seriously impaired social functioning. The focus of the TC is on the resocialization of the patient to a drug-free, crime-free lifestyle.

Short-term residential programs, often referred to as chemical dependency units, are often based on the "Minnesota Model" of treatment for alcoholism. These programs involve a 3- to 6-week inpatient treatment phase followed by extended outpatient therapy or participation in 12-step self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous. Chemical dependency programs for drug abuse arose in the private sector in the mid-1980s with insured alcohol/cocaine abusers as their primary patients. Today, as private provider benefits decline, more programs are extending their services to publicly funded patients.

Methadone maintenance programs are usually more successful at retaining clients with opiate dependence than are therapeutic communities, which in turn are more successful than outpatient programs that provide psychotherapy and counseling. Within various methadone programs, those that provide higher doses of methadone (usually a minimum of 60 mg.) have better retention rates. Also, those that provide other services, such as counseling, therapy, and medical care, along with methadone generally get better results than the programs that provide minimal services.

Drug treatment programs in prisons can succeed in preventing patients' return to criminal behavior, particularly if they are linked to community-based programs that continue treatment when the client leaves prison. Some of the more successful programs have reduced the rearrest rate by one-fourth to one-half. For example, the "Delaware Model," an ongoing study of comprehensive treatment of drug- addicted prison inmates, shows that prison-based treatment including a therapeutic community setting, a work release therapeutic community, and community-based aftercare reduces the probability of rearrest by 57 percent and reduces the likelihood of returning to drug use by 37 percent.

One type of drug addiction treatment that doesn’t use medication is called relapse prevention. This is an education process that helps the addict to control his or her own behavior. They are taught to see dangerous and troublesome situations and avoid them. This allows the addict to keep themselves away from the situations that could lead to further addiction or relapse in old behavior.

Another type of drug addiction treatment that is particularly popular with cocaine and heroin addicts is called supportive-expressive psychotherapy. With this type of drug addiction treatment, the addict works on their interpersonal relationships. They are taught to trust the support of others and use them as a way to combat their problem.

Thirdly, there is a type of drug addiction treatment called the matrix model. In this type of intensive treatment that works on the subconscious. In many ways, according to some, the matrix model is essentially a form of brainwashing where the addict is taught to avoid drugs and avoid drug situations as a way to fight the addiction.

Drug Addiction Treatment.

New Drug Addiction Treatment Shows Promise

ScienceDaily — New Haven, Conn. -- Patients who receive buprenorphine treatment for opioid addiction in an office--based setting are more likely than those receiving methadone treatment to be young men, new to drug use, and with no history of methadone treatment, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Approved for treating(Drug Addiction Treatment), heroin and prescription opiate pain killer abuse in 2002, office--based buprenorphine holds the promise of bringing new patients into treatment. While heroin and prescription opiate pain killer abuse has substantially increased over the years, the availability of treatment has not increased with the demand.

Along with her colleagues, Lynn Sullivan, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine, evaluated whether office--based buprenorphine treatment in a primary care clinic was associated with a different patient population receiving treatment compared to patients enrolling in methadone maintenance.

"We found that individuals seeking buprenorphine did differ from those seeking methadone along several important variables--age, sex, ethnicity, employment status, etc.," said Sullivan. " Results suggest that buprenorphine is having some success in reaching individuals who are unable or unwilling to use methadone for opioid addiction."

Demographic information and the individual's history of drug abuse(Drug Addiction Treatment) were compiled from 190 patients seeking treatment for opioid addiction.

Individuals that received buprenorphine, compared to those that sought out methadone treatment, were more likely to be male, employed, have five fewer years of opioid addiction, have lower rates of injection drug use, lower rates of hepatitis C infection and have no prior history of methadone treatment.

Other authors on the study included Marek Chawarski, Patrick G. O'Connor, Richard S. Schottenfeld and David A. Fiellin.

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Citation: Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 79, 113--116 (July 2005).

== Tips Of Drug Addiction Treatment ==
*It is always easier to come off your drugs at a time when you don't have anything important to deal with. Of course, waiting for that time can kill you. '''So don't wait.'''
*Although you may not feel like doing it, exercise will ease the pain of withdrawal.
*Read Aleister Crowley's "Confessions Of A Drug Fiend" for some useful advice on stopping using drugs.
*If you suffer from hot and cold sweats, wear layers of clothing that can be removed and put back on easily.
*Take a few minutes to do some stretching, yoga or meditation to get out of the mental tape loop that may be pulling you down. Change the channel.
*Boredom is the first step to relapse so always stay occupied somehow.

Drug Addiction Treatment

Drug Addiction Treatment - Health Info and Centers

Drug and addiction can be devastating to family members and individuals. Drug addiction treatment can include medications, behavioral therapy (such as cognitive therapy, psychotherapy, counseling, etc. ). A Research Based Guide released from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) said that treatment must be specific to each individual and assessed and modified continually to match the person’s changing needs.

1. What is drug addiction treatment?
There are many addictive drugs, and treatments for specific drugs can differ. Treatment also varies depending on the characteristics of the patient.

Problems associated with an individual's drug addiction can vary significantly. People who are addicted to drugs come from all walks of life. Many suffer from mental health, occupational, health, or social problems that make their addictive disorders much more difficult to treat. Even if there are few associated problems, the severity of addiction itself ranges widely among people.

A variety of scientifically based approaches to drug addiction treatment exists. Drug addiction treatment can include behavioral therapy (such as counseling, cognitive therapy, or psychotherapy), medications, or their combination. Behavioral therapies offer people strategies for coping with their drug cravings, teach them ways to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and help them deal with relapse if it occurs. When a person's drug-related behavior places him or her at higher risk for AIDS or other infectious diseases, behavioral therapies can help to reduce the risk of disease transmission. Case management and referral to other medical, psychological, and social services are crucial components of treatment for many patients. The best programs provide a combination of therapies and other services to meet the needs of the individual patient, which are shaped by such issues as age, race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, pregnancy, parenting, housing, and employment, as well as physical and sexual abuse.

Drug addiction treatment can include behavioral therapy, medications, or their combination.

Treatment medications, such as methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone, are available for individuals addicted to opiates. Nicotine preparations (patches, gum, nasal spray) and bupropion are available for individuals addicted to nicotine.

Drug Addiction Treatment